


solace

by spiritshipping



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Canon Compliant, Holding Hands, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 22:48:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19799341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiritshipping/pseuds/spiritshipping
Summary: for reasons they aren't ready to share with even themselves, they find solace each other.( obligatory edo/ryo dimension world fic )





	solace

**Author's Note:**

> as usual, thank u so much theo for helping me with ideas and proofreading!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Try as hard as Edo might, The Dimension World could not be described in few words. It could be defined in features, but even that couldn't encompass its entirety. The longer Edo stayed, the more he learned of it; the more he learned, the more certain he became that he didn't want to learn more.

The Dimension World was, unsurprisingly, too vast. Lack of transportation meant walking long distances. Walking long distances meant risking not only his own life, but Ryo's. 

It was too dark. Edo considered himself akin to darkness rather than light, but not in such literal terms. There was no daylight. Edo and Ryo learned to keep track of the passing time in their own ways. Even so, it felt like time wasn't passing at all, yet going too fast all the same. How long would it be before they would find their friends? How long had they already spent so far from their own world?

What was most noticeable was the cold. The constant darkness contributed to that. Cold weather wasn't good for a weak heart, but Ryo didn't complain. Edo didn't ask. 

The mansion they discovered alleviated some of these issues. It gave them a main base of operations. It gave them a place to store food and currency. Plus, the previous residents left behind some useful things (he chose not to think about why), which Edo had gathered to form a makeshift first aid kit. For two people who dropped into this world without warning, they could have been doing much worse.

He couldn’t help feeling incredibly lucky (despite not believing in luck, though he couldn’t say what he believed about destiny anymore either); or at least grateful for his and his partner’s resourcefulness in finding this place. Had the mansion seemed less like a haunted house, and had it not been in this dimension, it could have been a normal home. Edo going through his deck for the fourth time, despite knowing his deck by heart and not having any cards to switch around, could have been seen as normal. Or at least not something he did to ensure that they would stay alive. 

Ryo took a seat at the opposite side of Edo, passing his teacup across the table to him. They didn’t have anything to make tea with, though they didn’t have many regular glasses lying around, either (Ryo made a comment when Edo filled it with water, regardless). 

"What's on your mind?" Ryo asked, concern not so much evident in his voice as it was in his eyes. Edo forced himself to keep his gaze. 

"The others." He didn’t hesitate in telling the truth; it wouldn't do him any good to lie to his only ally in this world. 

"We're doing all we can right now. You know they're strong enough to hold their own." 

Edo knew that, but that didn't help the thoughts plaguing his mind. Not just about those they hadn't found yet, but…

Interrupting Edo's thoughts, Ryo suddenly said, completely straight-faced, "Duel me."

"What? Are you finally losing your mind?"

As if Edo hadn't said anything, Ryo started shuffling his deck. 

"Ryo…!"

"What?" 

"I'm not going to duel you!"

"Why not?"

"You'll die, of course!"

Ryo smirked and huffed out a laugh. He seemed satisfied, though all he'd succeeded in doing was annoying Edo. 

"What's so funny?" Edo tried to sound less affected, but he couldn't help the uncertainty creeping into his voice. When Ryo had this attitude outside of a duel, Edo couldn't get a read on what he might say next. 

"Nothing," Ryo pocketed his deck before resting his arms on the table. He paused, expression becoming more serious, yet somehow fond, and added, "You still believe in your own strength."

Edo blinked. So that's what that was. Not that Edo would admit that Ryo was being clever to his face. He started to put away his cards, lingering over each of his heroes. The heroes he'd forced his painful destiny upon. The heroes who chose to share that burden with him. The heroes who helped him overcome his destiny. The heroes who were forging a new path with him. He couldn't see duel spirits, found the idea ridiculous still, but… "I do. And I believe in my Destiny Heroes." The Destiny Heroes his dad designed so his son would smile, the Destiny Heroes his dad entrusted to protect him after he had gone - the Destiny Heroes Edo would protect and fight with, not only for his father's memory, but for his bond with them as well. "...Thank you, Ryo."

Ryo didn't need to reply, and they gradually fell into a comfortable silence. Edo wasn't sure when sharing space with Ryo so intimately became second nature to him, but if he blamed it on the unusual circumstances, it wasn't surprising. Ryo probably thought the same. 

Edo wasn't sure when exactly his arms had reached across the table, either, but before he knew it, their fingers were intertwined. Ryo wasn't looking him in the eyes anymore, and Edo found that he couldn't look at him any longer, either. Despite how comfortable they had become in silence, holding hands had never been a part of that. Edo was hyper aware of how Ryo's hands - and his own - were a bit sweaty. His hands shook just the slightest, too. Not from any sort of illness - Ryo seemed fine otherwise - just small, quick quivering that made him seem more nervous than anything. Even though this was a gesture between two lonely people who needed to rely on each other, Edo could understand why Ryo would feel that way.

Edo closed his eyes and squeezed Ryo's hands slightly, relieved when Ryo squeezed back. 

"You're warm." Edo whispered a reassurance to both himself and Ryo. 

( _ No matter how hard he tried not to think about it, the memories he associated with such close contact would always involve his dad. His dad was taken from him at such a young age. He didn’t get to have a final moment with his father; didn’t get to tell him he loved him. Instead, he was forced to stare at his dad’s lifeless form and take what his dad had left behind, clinging desperately to the pieces of his father that still remained. But in prying Dread Guy from his dad’s body, he was forced to feel how his hand clenched around the card, how his skin was cold to the touch. Blood ran through those veins hours prior, but all it took was the violence of a selfish man to make it stop completely. _ )

For different reasons, though the same feelings, Ryo replied, "So are you."

**Author's Note:**

> what if we :flushed: held hands :flushed: and mutually pined :flushed:


End file.
